Being Mary Jane has ended it’s 2nd season with an explosive two-part season finale. I chose not to blawg about the show this season because frankly, I was disappointed in the initial storyline.

Last season, our coveted Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union) survived heartbreak after a lengthy affair with a married man (Andre – Omari Hardwick) who left the show to pursue a more lucrative deal in ‘Power.’ And in my opinion, writers of BMJ seemed at a loss on how to proceed without Hardwick’s presence.

While the 2nd season started off slowly, it finally picked up a bit but I still couldn’t get past the fact that Mary Jane seemed suddenly obsessed with her ex, David Paulk (Stephen Bishop) and his new relationship with his baby mama. Blah Blah Blah… enter Mary Jane playing the side-chick (again) as her ex decides he really loves her but is in a ‘situation’ where his fiancè is pregnant. *sigh* I just couldn’t.

During the 2-part season 2 finale, Mary Jane experiences a breakup (Sheldon (Gary Dourdan) didn’t quite work out), a makeup (Mary Jane and Kara (Lisa Videl) mend fences for the greater good of her career), a tempting primetime job offer and a shocking revelations (MJ discovers her BFF has been lusting after David for years), while finally ending with with a bang… literally!

“If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.” – Oprah

In a light spin on the BlackLivesMatter campaign, Mary Jane Paul takes on the cause of Black women in America and how their (our) struggles are largely ignored in mainstream society. A video clip of Mary Jane confronting a White guest who referred to her as a ‘race baiter’ and an ‘Ugly Black Woman’ sets tv twitter aflame and art imitates life as the scripted tv show reveals how social media can spark a cause.

I’m a woman… you’re a woman. Let me connect the dots for you. When I look at you, I see an UGLY BLACK WOMAN too…

Mary Jane’s ‘Ugly Black Woman’ rant suddenly makes her famous and she’s hailed as a hero by Black Women and sought after by several news outlets to speak about her position. CNN’s Don Lemon even appears in a cameo as Mary Jane to interview the SNC news anchor about her explosive statement. Mary Jane’s sudden fame solidifies her positon at the network and executives decide to boot the lead anchor and offer MJ a prime-time position.

Even with a promotion MJ’s still an ‘Ugly Black Woman’ in expensive shoes…

Mary Jane meets with network executives and has a private meeting with Sheree, the female head of the network, who encourages the new prime-time anchor but asks her reconsider her all-Black agenda.

It seems the one’s in power are merely choosing to keep Mary Jane around so that they can benefit from her newfound popularity and as soon as she leaves the room, Sheree makes the following statement:

“Make sure you keep her on a short leash, the last thing we need around here is to have an ‘Ugly Black Woman’ running wild…

There’s an agenda at play, but it’s not lost to Mary Jane and Kara. The issue brings them closer together and they decide to make amends and work together for the benefit of BOTH of their careers.

An Apology for Dissecting the ‘Game’…

Mary Jane finally has a real live ‘relationship’ with a real live single man. She and Sheldon have began to pursue their relationship and while there’s a lot of romance, there seems to be a lot of underlying tensions.

Sheldon, a successful, 50-something bachelor, is accustomed to wooing younger woman and dating Mary Jane seems to be somewhat of a challenge. The anchor woman questions his every decision, the food, the movies, the candlelight… MJ sees it all as ‘game’ and instead of appreciating the effort, she calls him out about it and says it’s ‘a bit much’… *sigh*

[Sidebar: See… this is why she’s still single! Mary Jane is accustomed to playing 2nd string and now that she’s finally on the field for the home team, she’s questioning the plays. I don’t get it! But I digress…]

It takes MJ’s Gay BFF Mark (Aaron D. Spears) to tell her that she’s being a bit too hard on her budding new relationship, so she reconsiders and reaches out to Sheldon to apologize.

After sending an apology text, Mary Jane waits for a response which takes a while. Sheldon finally replies with a simple ‘Thank you.’

The text sends the anchor woman into a tizzy and she chooses to make an unannouced house call to Sheldon. At the end of the part 1 of the finale, Mary Jane is met wit a less than enthusiastic welcome from her love interest, who sends her on her way with a promise to ‘call tomorrow’….

Part 2 of the finale begins with a security breach at Mary Jane’s glass house. After an unexplained alarm and a visit by the police, Mary Jane calls Sheldon to request a sleep over.

Hell… didn’t he just send you on your way less than 10 minutes ago??? Jeezz! Again… I digress.

This episode’s starting quote:

And the day came with the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom – Anais Nin

OK so, Sheldon offers MJ a place to stay during her troubled time and she’s in ‘heaven’ as she invades his spacious home with her designer shoes and purses.

She’s is merely a house guest to the 50-something confirmed bachelor and while MJ thinks her presence means their relationship is progressing, it seems to me and anyone watching that the chemistry (if any) died with her dissecting Sheldon’s date during part 1 of the finale.

Sheldon keeps a stash of disposable toothbrushes in the cabinet and it seems that Mary Jane can’t even solidify her ‘position’ with the placement of a toothbrush as Sheldon throws her’s away every morning she’s there. She’s also worn out her welcome by peeing in his bed… not once, but twice, so guess what, any hope of sexual chemistry between these two were thrown out with that pissy mattress.

Ewwww…. for real tho, who would wanna smash on that??

I could go on and on about MJ and Sheldon but we already know it’s a wrap. Sheldon wants what he wants, which is a woman who maintains her own home, while he maintains his. No cohabitation, no marriage, no kids.

Sheldon assumes they would meet somewhere in the middle and never have to ‘blend’ their living conditions.

…and the pissy mattress didn’t help matters.

Mary Jane decides Sheldon’s way isn’t her way and she’s not willing to settle.

Case closed. Moving on.

Dog deaths and backstabbing bitches…

David’s dog has died… he apparently had to put the pooch to sleep and MJ’s friends are all aware of his grief.

I say friend(s) but one in particular has been waiting on the opportunity to squeeze up on David for a while now. We knew Dr. Lisa (Latarsha Rose) had some issues, but we finally found out the extent of her obsession with her best friend’s boyfriend.

Lisa visits David to offer her condolences on his dog’s death, but she also feels now is the time to tell him how she really feels.

Coincidentally, Mary Jane calls David with no response, but you know how tricky those iPhones can be sometimes when you forget to lock em! David mistakenly ‘butt dials’ Mary Jane, who hears the entire conversation go down between her best friend and her ex-man.

It seems Lisa has spend a lot of time with David over the years. She’s been his maid, his cook, his jumpoff and even his banker. All things that Mary Jane had no prior knowledge of… that is, until the butt dial occurred.

The call sparks an unfortunate series of events. Mary Jane stops to listen intently, which in turn has her hold up traffic, when the car behind her blows, David and Lisa realize she’s on the line. When our embattled news anchor finally accelerates, she’s involved in an accident with an oncoming car.

Creator and head writer Mara Brock Akil revealed why she ended the season on such a dramatic note, stating:

I decided to end season 2 of Being Mary Jane that way because it is suspenseful. That’s just TV 101. We’ll be able to set up season 3 even stronger in order to deal right where we left off. Our series deals with the minutiae—how you put one foot in front of the other in every aspect of your life. We’ve piled a lot onto Mary Jane’s plate and the series as a whole is watching her unpack it.

I think a lot of people remember life in chunks, so that’s influenced the structure of the show. Mary Jane will always remember the year she had the affair. Season 2 is the year she and David broke up, and she met Sheldon. And she froze her eggs. She did the “Talk Black” thing and she got the promotion. Those were the highlights. But more deeply, I wanted to explore the idea of what it looks like to let go in season 2. Sometimes that means you have to take two steps backward before you can take one step forward. (Source)